There is a lot of bad blood between Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis going into UFC 305. Therefore, the reigning champion is busy employing mind games on his opponent ahead of their clash.
In a recent post on X, ‘Stillknocks’ poked fun at Adesanya by posting a screenshot of him crying during the pre-fight press conference, with an inventive title to boot:
“I win the screenshot game.”
For context, during the presser, ‘The Last Stylebender’ bragged about his plans to do a world tour with the belt after defeating du Plessis in Perth.
Wasting no time, ‘Stillknocks’ hit back, asking if his opponent plans to take his servants along with him – a reference to Adesanya stating that he grew up with domestic help, during an old interview.
The former champion who was allegedly forced to leave his home country for better opportunities, was upset by his opponent seemingly suggesting that he’d always enjoyed a life of privilege. This led Adesanya to sob uncontrollably, before storming off the stage.
Many fans see Adesanya’s emotional breakdown as an upper hand for du Plessis, heading into the fight.
The pair will lock horns on Aug. 17, in the main event of UFC 305 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. According to the UFC’s official website, ‘The Last Stylebender’ is a -130 favorite over du Plessis (+110 underdog) for the matchup.
UFC legend on Dricus du Plessis emotionally breaking his opponents
Daniel Cormier is amazed by Dricus du Plessis’ ability to emotionally break his opponents. The former UFC two-division champion believes it’s frustrating for a fighter to deal with du Plessis’ brand of trash talk.
During an interview with MMA Junkie following the UFC 305 pre-fight press conference, Cormier said:
“It’s actually unbelievable… Does he know that he’s doing that or is he just being himself? Again, it’s frustrating, I think it’s frustrating because when he was saying the things he was saying Adesanya was saying, ‘you don’t know me’… and he just didn’t care and he just kept on piling on and that would be frustrating to just about anybody. I’m telling you, it was a spectacle.”
Interestingly, du Plessis had also brought Sean Strickland to tears ahead of their UFC 297 clash, by dragging ‘Tarzan’s’ abusive childhood into the conversation.